The advance could mean that Star Trek fantasies of interstellar civilisations and voyages powered by warp drive are now no longer the exclusive domain of science fiction writers.

In the long running television series created by Gene Roddenberry, the warp drive was invented by Zefram Cochrane, who began his epic project in 2053 in Bozeman, Montana.

Now Dr Gerald Cleaver, associate professor of physics at Baylor, and Richard Obousy have come up with a new twist on an existing idea to produce a warp drive that they believe can travel faster than the speed of light, without breaking the laws of physics.

In their scheme, in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, a starship could "warp" space so that it shrinks ahead of the vessel and expands behind it.

By pushing the departure point many light years backwards while simultaneously bringing distant stars and other destinations closer, the warp drive effectively transports the starship from place to place at faster-than-light speeds.

All this extraordinary feat requires, says the new study, is for scientists to harness a mysterious and poorly understood cosmic antigravity force, called dark energy.

Dark energy is thought responsible for speeding up the expansion rate of our universe as time moves on, just like it did after the Big Bang, when the universe expanded much faster than the speed of light for a very brief time.

This may come as a surprise since, according to relativity theory, matter cannot move through space faster than the speed of light, which is almost 300,000,000 metres per second. But that theory applies only to unwarped 'flat' space.

And there is no limit on the speed with which space itself can move: the spaceship can sit at rest in a small bubble of space that flows at "superluminal" - faster than light - velocities through normal space because the fabric of space and time itself (scientists refer to spacetime) is stretching.

In the scheme outlined by Dr Cleaver dark energy would be used to create the bubble: if dark energy can be made negative in front of the ship, then that patch of space would contract in response.

"Think of it like a surfer riding a wave," said Dr Cleaver. "The ship would be pushed by the spatial bubble and the bubble would be travelling faster than the speed of light."

The new warp drive work also draws on "string theory", which suggests the universe is made up of multiple dimensions. We are used to four dimensions - height, width, length and time but string theorists believe that there are a total of 10 dimensions and it is by changing the size of this 10th spatial dimension in front of the space ship that the Baylor researchers believe could alter the strength of the dark energy in such a manner to propel the ship faster than the speed of light.

They conclude by recommending that it would be "prudent to research this area further."

But hold the dilithium crystals: Dr Chris Van Den Broeck of Cardiff University commented: "The problem with this and previous schemes (including my own) is that part of the exotic matter would have to travel faster than the *local* speed of light (roughly speaking, it would need to go faster than the speed of light with respect to the portion of space it occupies), and that's not allowed by any established physical theory."

And even if this criticism can be met, Richard Obousy computed the amount of energy required to start up a "warp" process (but not the total energy required to travel a specific distance) around a 10x10x10 metre-cube ship based on the required change in dark energy in a space equal to the volume of the ship.

The energy to kick start the drive turned out to be equivalent to turning the entire mass of Jupiter into energy, by Einstein's famous E equals Mc squared equation, where c is the speed of light. Given the mass of Jupiter is around 2000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms, that is a big number.

"That is an enormous amount of energy," Dr Cleaver said. "We are still a very long ways off before we could create something to harness that type of energy."

27th Aug the Whole World is waiting for, Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August. It will look like a very small and visible moon to the naked eye. This will cultivate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles off earth. Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the earth has 2 moons.Everyone has potential ringside seats to this celestial wonder. Mars is visible to anyone on Earth with clear skies. And the exact instant of the closest approach is relatively unimportant, other than marking a curious mathematical moment. A complete Mars Viewer's Guide is available from SPACE.com. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

The book is being launched on Thursday, June 5, at UPPERCASE gallery, Calgary, AB. In conjunction with the Work/Life book, UPPERCASE gallery will be hosting an exhibition of artwork by the contributors.

August 24, 2008

I LOVE PHOTOS LIKE THIS OF SATURN !Soft hues, partially lit orbs, a thin trace of the ring, and slight shadows highlight this understated view of the majestic surroundings of the giant planet Saturn. Looking nearly back toward the Sun, the robot Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn captured crescent phases of Saturn and its moon Rhea in color a few years ago. As striking as the above image is, it is but a single frame from a recently released 60-frame silent movie where Rhea can be seen gliding in front of its parent world. Since Cassini was nearly in the plane of Saturn's rings, the normally impressive rings are visible here only as a thin line across the image center. Although Cassini has now concluded its primary mission, its past successes and opportunistic location have prompted NASA to start a two-year Equinox Mission, further exploring not only Saturn's enigmatic moons Titan and Enceladus, but Saturn herself as her grand rings tilt right at the Sun in August 2009.

What created this great cliff on Mars? Did giant waterfalls once plummet through its grooves? With a four-kilometer drop, this high cliff surrounding Echus Chasma, near an impressive impact crater, was carved by either water or lava. A leading hypothesis is that Echus Chasma, at 100-kilometers long and 10-kilometers wide, was once one of the largest water sources on Mars. If true, water once held in Echus Chasma likely ran over the Martian surface to carve the impressive Kasei Valles, which extends over 3,000 kilometers to the north. Even if initially carved by water, lava appears to have later flowed in the valley, leaving an extraordinarily smooth floor. Echus Chasma lies north of tremendous Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the Solar System. The above image was taken by the robotic Mars Express spacecraft currently orbiting Mars.

August 22, 2008

The Moon's measured diameter is around 3,476 kilometers (2,160 miles). But apparent angular size, or the angle covered by an object, can also be important to Moon enthusiasts. Angular size depends on distance, the farther away an object is, the smaller an angle it covers. Since the Moon is 400,000 kilometers away, its angular size is only about 1/2 degree, a span easily covered by the tip of your finger held at arms length, or a measuring tape held in the distance by a friend. Of course the Sun is much larger than the Moon, 400 times larger in fact, but today the New Moon will just cover the Sun. The total solar eclipse can be seen along a track across northern Canada, the Arctic, Siberia, and northern China. (A partial eclipse is visible from a broader region). Solar eclipses illustrate the happy coincidence that while the Sun is 400 times the diameter of the Moon, it is also 400 times farther away giving the Sun and Moon exactly the same angular size.

The Brothers McLeod have started a new online series of animations using illustrated coffee stirrers! It’s called Sticks. It’s a non-format concept where we can do or tell any story we fancy. It’s like a quick hit for us in terms of turnaround and hopefully fun for our fans.

Sticks first installment “Endless Not” has already picked up a YouTube UK feature.

Fox has won a round in the ongoing battle over the rights to graphicnovel WATCHMEN, which is being turned into a feature film by WarnerBros., according to VARIETY. A judge has denied a motion filed by WarnerBros. to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Fox in February over their rightto make the film.Fox could end up as a profit participant in the film, costing WBmillions in box office cash. Fox's legal team says it is looking toprevent the film from being released altogether.

WATCHMEN the film has been in development for 20 years, and finallybegan filming under director Zack Snyder last September. WB was set torelease the film, starring Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley, onMarch 6, 2009, the same weekend as 300 opened last year.The basis of Fox's suit is the contention that it never gave up therights to WATCHMEN. According to federal Judge Gary Allen Feess, Foxretained distribution rights to the graphic novel through a 1991 claim.Also, Feess seems to have agreed with a 1994 turnaround deal withproducer Larry Gordon that Gordon acquired an option to acquire Fox'sremaining interest and never followed through, thereby leaving Fox withits rights under the 1994 agreement.

"It is our company's policy not to comment on pending litigation andthus will not comment on the specifics of this case," WB said instatement. "That said, the court's ruling simply means that the partieswill engage in discovery and proceed with the litigation. The judge didnot opine at all on the merits other than to conclude that Fox satisfiedthe pleading requirements. We respectfully disagree with Fox's positionand do not believe they have any rights in and to this project."

The judge wants the discovery process, normally allowed up to two years,to be hastened as WATCHMEN is set to be released this spring."Warner Bros.' production and anticipated release of THE WATCHMEN motionpicture violates 20th Century Fox's long-standing motion picture rightsin THE WATCHMEN property," Fox said in a statement. The film's officialtitle is actually WATCHMEN, as well as the source material, a graphicnovel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons.

"We will be asking the court to enforce Fox's copyright interests in THEWATCHMEN and enjoin the release of the Warner Bros. film and any relatedWATCHMEN media that violate our copyright interests in that property,"the statement concludes.

Fox would rather see the project killed altogether rather than collect apercentage at the box office. "When you have copyright infringement,there are some damages you never recover," a source close to thelitigation told VARIETY.

Fox has spent upwards of $1 million developing WATCHMEN, but had notpreviously taken legal action against the project, which has been indevelopment at Paramount for several years.

You ever saw a trailer that made you say 'WOW… That’s going to be a great movie. I really can’t wait till this movie comes out'. Then you go to see the movie on opening weekend, only to find out WHAT A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT that was or saying to yourself “I absolutely hated that movie”. Well here is a list of the top 10 most disappointing movies with great trailers…

10. Alien vs. Predator

When the movie Predator came out back in the 80’s everyone wanted to know who would win a fight between Aliens and Predators. Well, 20 years later the Trailer of Alien vs. Predator shed light on that very question. Those who saw the trailer just knew how great this movie was going to be. In the end movie goers were let down with a below average movie.

09. The Mummy Returns

After The Mummy was a big hit, talk went around that a sequel would be in the works. The Trailer came out and eagerly awaited movie goers flocked to the theaters on opening night, only to be out of the movies in bitter discontent.

08. Day After Tomorrow

When The Day After Tomorrow trailer premiered, I was surprised on how great the trailer was. The flooding of New York (I notice movies love destroying NY) and the statue of liberty under the snow. The movie had to be nothing but great right? Wrong, it was average at best.

07. The Transporter

Now this was in fact a good movie, but the trailer which I think showed all the best screens was just amazing.

06. War of the Worlds

What a huge let down, but I could watch the trailers over and over again.

05. Superman Returns

The movie just lost me; there was no need to roll dice with superman. Superman Returns trailers go in my collection of the best trailers.

04. Hancock

When I first saw this trailer on I Am Legend it really sold me. Then I saw the full trailer and I was hooked, I just knew I had to see this movie. What a 360 this movie pulled on me, I couldn’t believe how bad this movie was.

03. Jarhead

I was inside the movie theatre seeing this trailer for the first time. This was my first time seeing the auditorium clip for a drama type movie. I expected it for a super hero movie or even a very funny comedy but a drama, no way but the trailer was good. I was instantly hooked but what a let down, it was such a boring movie, wasn’t expecting that at all.

02. The Phantom Menace

When I saw the trailers to The Phantom Menace, I was like whoa! Jedi’s at their prime, Darth Maul and the clean look of everything, the trailer was next to perfect. I found myself seeing it 4 times a day before the movie came out, Jar-Jar Binks well you know the rest.

01. Spider-Man 3

I still find myself watching the trailers of Spider-Man 3; this was a spectacular trailer, pretty much prefect. What more could you have asked for, well a better movie. The movie did not live up to the trailers at all.